


it's gonna take a supergirl to sweep me off my feet

by theprinceofdorkness



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alcohol Usage, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Major Character Injury, More tags to be added, Torture, but in a different way than before YIKES, hangovers, kara's anakin scar is back bitch!!, ok so.... i love to suffer and i wanted yall to as well :), so there's a fair amount of violence in the first chapter, these characters are all dumbasses and id die for them, trigger warning: violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-09-25 02:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9799250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprinceofdorkness/pseuds/theprinceofdorkness
Summary: kara danvers gets herself in waaaaay too much trouble.or, the four times supergirl gets hurt and the one time she doesn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i had this idea a while back, but again!!! trigger warning for violence in the first few paragraphs!! also, i don't know why i love the idea of kara with anakin skywalker's scar (or something close to it) so much, but i.... i really do. it's becoming a problem. the tags are a little misleading, but i promise it's not going to be as bad as it sounds. i'm planning on incorporating way more humor into later chapters. all comments and kudos are appreciated! 
> 
> again, trigger warning for violence!

If prolonged exposure to kryptonite was bad, then being stabbed repeatedly with a knife made out of it while being suspended in midair was significantly worse.

 

Kara gasped as she felt the blade enter her thigh, the gag in her mouth stifling the accompanying scream. Her arms were chained above her head, leaving her vulnerable and, obviously, open to attack. Any thoughts that weren’t either _Alex is going to kill me_ or immense pain were forced out of her mind as the knife cut across her right bicep. Lillian Luthor chuckled. She said to the superhero something that made her go very pale, paler than ever before. “You know, a little birdie told me that if we use kryptonite weapons, they’ll leave a scar.” She traced the edge of the tool almost gently down Kara’s face, leaving a faint line of red in its wake. Inspired, she made a deeper cut on the hero’s cheek. Blood dripped down from Kara’s face, her whimpers and sobs muffled by the gag as the knife continued its path. Lillian guided the scalpel to Kara’s left bicep, and began methodically slicing off her costume, not stopping at occasional (stifled) screams from the hero as the knife hit flesh. Once the sleeve was detached from the rest of the torso piece, she began her work anew.

 

Three hours, the majority of Supergirl’s costume (save some of her skirt and part of her crest) had been shredded and was on the floor of wherever they were. The hero’s skin looked no better, having been ruthlessly sliced across by numerous weapons, both kryptonite and not.

 

Kara felt herself losing consciousness when she became faintly aware of shouting from behind her. Through blurry, half-lidded vision, she saw Alex, who, a dying Kara realized, looked incredibly scared.

 

“Supergirl? Supergirl, wake up, we need you to-” The agent was cut off by an explosion from somewhere above them. “Shit. There’s no time for explanations, but I’m getting you out of here. Just hold on until we get back to the DEO, okay?” Alex was able to dismantle the chains in record time, trying _very_ hard to ignore the devastating injuries her sister had suffered. Once they were safely out of the warehouse and in an ambulance, Alex took shop. Kara was covered in blood, the liquid dripping from too many open wounds to count. The two most dangerous-looking were a stab wound in her stomach (with the knife helpfully left in) and a deep slash across Kara’s face, starting from above her left eyebrow and going diagonally downwards through it and over her eye, continuing to mid-cheek. She also noticed that Kara’s arms and hands were now littered with scratches and cuts, far too many to be inconspicuous.

 

 _Shit_.

 

Lillian Luthor, who was thankfully now in custody of the DEO, had definitely used a kryptonite knife for the one over Kara’s eye, and probably several of the ones on her arms and hands. This meant a very obvious scar for Kara and Supergirl, one that people would undoubtedly realize sooner rather than later, and also several scars on Kara’s arms that not even nerdy pastel button-ups and cardigans would hide. Alex reached up to move a piece of hair away from her face and realized that she was crying when her hand, which had brushed against her cheek, came away wet. She let out a shuddering breath. Kara’s vitals were fading fast, especially because of the massive stab wound she was suffering, and there wasn’t much of a chance they would last a whole lot longer.

 

When they finally reached the DEO headquarters, the redhead insisted on staying with her sister until four agents had to remove her from going into the room in which Kara was undergoing surgery. Banished to the main hall, she dove into finding out why they wanted the superhero this time. Before they started any of the other injuries made on her sister, they had taken more of her blood and injected kryptonite into her veins. Their use for the blood was unknown as of yet, but Alex was wracking her brain to find a reason.

 

No. That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was Kara was _dying_ , and even if she survived, there was no way that people wouldn’t recognize her as Supergirl. Alex shifted focus on the next small problem: the amassing crowd of people (both DEO agents and not) who were frantically whispering to each other. Winn had been prodding at her arm for several seconds now, but she had been too absorbed in thought to realize.

 

Alex whirled around to him, snapping. “ _What?!_ ” Winn’s mouth opened and closed. He looked vaguely like a fish. She wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. What is it, Winn?”

 

He answered in a small voice, obviously blinking tears away as well. “I-Um. Is she going to be okay?”

 

“...I don’t know. I hope, but…” Her voice cracked a little. “I just… I don’t know what I would do if she - God, if she died on my watch.” Alex wiped away a few stray tears that had escaped. When she next spoke, her voice was so quiet that Winn had to strain to hear it. “Did you see her? She was _tortured_ , Winn. She had - _has_ \- these… God, th-these _cuts_ and these _huge_ slashes all over, and… They were made with kryptonite weapons.” Alex broke off, a sob escaping her. “Even if she survives, she’ll have so, _so_ many scars reminding her of it, and there’s a really, _really_ bad one across her face, and-and _God,_  they even burned their name into her arm, like _branded_ burned, Winn, with a red-hot iron like she was a fucking piece of leather, and-”

 

Winn interrupted her with a hug, tears running down both people’s faces in equal measure, sobs wracking Alex’s body. She had never been more grateful for Winn’s presence in her life than in this moment, because even though he was like an annoying little brother to her sometimes, he was still like a brother. She pulled away from the hug, trying to regulate her breathing. She shot him a watery smile, which he returned, before speaking again.

 

“Thanks for that, Winn. Really. But, look, I, uh… I gotta go. I’m gonna call Maggie, tell her what’s going on. I’ll be back for when Kara wakes up.”

 

He smiled and nodded. “No prob. Oh, uh, also…” His expression became slightly sheepish. “I _may_ have called Lena down to the DEO...? She sounded kinda freaked when I told her about what was going on, and she said she’d be here any-”

 

He was interrupted by the sound of an argument coming from down the hall. The CEO’s voice floated up to where they were. “What do you _mean_ I’m not allowed in here?! I was _summoned_ here, you son of a-”

 

“Lena!” Alex called to her. The CEO looked up, anger, fear, and annoyance all showing across her face. The redhead jogged over to where her friend was being hassled. She turned to the other agent. “She’s with me, Rogers.”

 

Rogers grumbled, but walked away nonetheless. Lena turned to her. “Thanks, Alex, but where’s Kara? Winn told me a little about what was happening. He said she was missing...? Is she okay?” The CEO’s face had several expressions written plainly all over it. Alex gently grabbed her arm and started walking back over to where Winn was. “Hey-” She started to protest.

 

“Lena, you might want to sit down.” The brunette looked like she was going to argue, but thought better of it, taking the offered seat. Alex took a deep breath, trying (unsuccessfully) to expel the shakiness from it. “...Kara was… She was kidnapped by, um… by Cadmus. They hurt her. She’s lost a lot of blood. It looks like the majority of her wounds were inflicted by kryptonite weapons, meaning they’ll probably leave scars.” She wiped a few stray tears away, not meeting the CEO’s eyes. “...She was tortured, Lena. They cut off almost all of her suit so they could reach more of her, and when we got to her… God knows how much longer she would have lasted if we hadn’t found her there.”

 

It was then that she looked at the other woman for the first time. Tears flowed freely down her face, and her hands were covering her mouth. A quiet sob escaped her. Trying to compose herself, Lena spoke. “...Is she going to be alright? When can I see her?” The words came out in a shaky voice. “Alex, I need to see her.”

 

“Lena… I know how much you two mean to each other, but she’s not going to be the same,” She exhaled. “I wasn’t kidding about those cuts. It’s going to be pretty hard for her to hide them once they scar, I-I don’t know how she’ll manage it. Plus, she was stabbed in multiple locations. It’s… it’s bad, Lena.”

 

When the CEO spoke again, her voice was smaller than Alex had ever heard it. “...Multiple locations? Jesus, Alex, what did they do to her?”

 

“...So far, we’ve catalogued one stab wound in the middle of her right thigh, one in the left side of her lower abdomen, and one in the center of each hand.” She paused to wipe away a tear and saw how Lena’s eyes widened in horror. “Not to mention the scores of cuts all over the rest of her. Lena, they cut off her suit so they coul-could reach more of her. You want to know what the only part they left was?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Her crest. In some sadistic bullshit way, they thought it would be symbolic, y’know, that Supergirl was-” She choked on the word. “...Th-that Supergirl was-was _dead_ , a-and the only surviving parts of her suit were her fucking _shredded_ cape and the giant S on her chest.” Alex pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to cry. It didn’t work. Lena hugged her then. The redhead almost fell into the hug, desperately seeking the comfort of another grieving relative.

 

They broke the hug when Agent Vasquez approached them. “I don’t mean to interrupt, ma’am, but we have a slight problem. The wounds left by Cadmus are definitely going to scar. Well, most of them, anyway. It looks like some were left by weapons made from different materials, so, while some were inflicted with a kryptonite knife, others weren’t. The other ones aren’t going to scar...” Vasquez looked from Lena’s barely composed face to Alex’s, which looked like she was on the verge of either crying or killing someone. “...Which I thought you’d want to know.”

 

“And the ones on her face? What kind of weapons were used for those?”

 

Vasquez was out of her depth. “I’m afraid I don’t know, Agent Danvers,” She looked between both women again. “I’m sorry, by the way. I know how much Supergirl means to the both of you.”

 

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose, but nodded. “Yeah… Look, I’m going to call Mag-Detective Sawyer and see if she has any leads on how they got ahold of all that kryptonite.” Vasquez nodded back and walked back to her desk.

 

Winn nodded, motioning for Alex to go away. She left, pulling out her cell. He turned to Lena after a few minutes. He had noticed that the woman opposite from him looked rather uncomfortable. “You know, we have an official waiting room, if this DEO-sanctioned office chair isn’t doing it for you.”

 

The CEO smiled in spite of herself. “Thank you, Winn.”

 

“Do you need me to show you the way?”

“Oh, no. Thank you, but I think I’ll manage.”

 

Winn nodded. “Okay, Lena. There’s also a vending machine somewhere, if you’re hungry.”

 

Lena shrugged before walking away in what she figured the direction of the waiting room was.

 

It was going to be a long few hours.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so chapter two is here! there's still angst in this one, but it's pretty balanced out by fluff. this is still a 4+1 fic, so expect kara getting hurt in a variety of ways, some more physical/more intense than others. obviously, a paper cut isn't super painful, but i thought it would be less... extra, i guess? anyway. here you go! again, kudos and comments are very much appreciated. 
> 
> trigger warning for mentions of violence!

Of all the things which could have happened (a nice bubble bath, a fun night watching movies with her friends, or even just binge-watching Game of Thrones with a container of Ben and Jerry’s), Kara Danvers found herself startling awake in the DEO at precisely 3:47am on a Tuesday night (morning?) with wires coming out of her, a hospital bed beneath her, and sunlamps above her. Really, this was just the icing on the cake as far as the last 48 hours were concerned.

 

When Kara jolted back into the land of the living, the first thing she was aware of was pain. It wasn’t exactly unfamiliar to her, but it shocked her every time she experienced it. That being said, she didn’t usually feel it burning across her face. It was, quite frankly, very distracting, and between that and the pain meds she was _definitely_ on, she didn’t register the presence of her various friends in the room.

 

Alex was by her side at once, moving at a speed that the Girl of Steel herself would (and did) admire. “Kara? Hey, Kara, it’s me, it’s-it’s Alex, your sister, we’re at the DEO, and everyone else is-”

 

Kara’s tongue felt heavy in her mouth, leading her to slur her words a bit. “Oh, hey, Alex. What’s going on? Is everyone okay?”

 

Tears came unbidden to the agent’s eyes. _Of course Kara thinks of everyone else before herself. What a chivalrous bastard._ “Everyone’s fine, Kar. It’s not us we were - _are_ \- worried about.”

 

Kara thought briefly about what Alex could mean by that, but memories quickly flooded her. They came as a shock to her barely-awake brain, and she sat bolt upright in her bed, but immediately collapsed back on it, her body and its many wounds protesting at the sudden action. She whipped her head up to look at Alex, who flinched away. It would have been barely noticeable for a human, but, then again, she wasn’t one. _That_ was what confused Kara more than anything. “Dude, what the he-” She caught sight of her reflection in the glass. More specifically, of the huge, angry red slash that made its way down her face.

 

“Holy _shit._ ” She brought her hands up to touch it, and then noticed the bandages all over them and her arms. “Alex, what the hell happened to me?!” Her voice was loud, but fear was plain in it. Kara turned back to her sister, horror and fear all across her face, and she saw Alex’s broken, grieving expression for the first time.

 

The sight of her sister desperately trying to compose herself wasn’t unfamiliar, but it was always a punch to the gut for the Kryptonian. Her sister was her personal Supergirl, and to see her like this was painful. Of course, for Alex, seeing her sister look at herself with a horrified expression was almost worse. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to soothe both herself and Kara.

 

“Look, Kara, there’s no easy way to say this. I don’t know how much you remember, b-but you were, um… you were tortured. By Cadmus,” Several expressions made their way across the hero’s face, from apprehension to anger in seconds. Nausea was building up inside both of them. “They did this. When we got to you, God bless Vasquez’s tracing skills, by the way, you were almost… We almost…” Alex couldn’t get the words out, but she didn’t need to.

 

Kara was trying to process what had happened, but it was a _lot_ harder than she had anticipated. She figured she’d deal with what Alex was telling her another time, because at the moment the only thing her sister had that was keeping her from crying was… Well, Kara didn’t even know what it was, but it was failing. Ignoring the screaming pain from all over her body, she pulled herself up into a sitting position and beckoned her sister over. “Al, come ‘ere.”

 

If asked, Alex would firmly deny that she all but sprinted across the room. Kara wrapped her into a firm hug while Alex sobbed on her shoulder. After an unspecified amount of time, Alex’s cries subsided and she was breathing at a normal rate again. She gently extricated herself out of her sister’s arms. She placed her hands on Kara’s forearms with the intent of keeping them close, but that plan went south at Kara’s sudden gasp of pain. Both of them had forgotten about the numerous cuts on them, still uncomfortably fresh. The redhead was about to speak, but Kara beat her to it.

 

“Dude, I hate to ruin the moment, but I am s _o_ hungry. Like. Hungry like you would not _believe._ ”

 

Alex laughed wetly. “Of course. I’ll grab some potstickers from that place on Ninth, okay? Oh, and don’t be surprised if you get more visitors while I’m gone, everyone’s here. And I do mean _everyone_. Lena’s in the waiting room, Winn is probably hacking into the Russian government’s files out of stress, and James is either dicking around in the weights room or sparring with Maggie. I’ll tell everyone you’re up, is that okay?”

 

Kara tried to smile, but found that it hurt to move her face. “Yeah. That’d be great. I’ve missed them.” As she watched her sister leave, she turned her thoughts to the matter of the searing pain on her face. Kara knew, deep down, that she was going to need to see work through the trauma eventually. She was debating just _when_ to do this when at least four people came barrelling through her door. The sudden noise caused a spike in her heart rate almost immediately and a feeling of panic in every cell in her body. She turned towards the door, fear written across her face.

 

Standing in her doorway were the Superfriends, a name that had somehow stuck (after months of Winn pushing it), all appearing in various states of undress (Maggie was in a sports bra and basketball shorts, while Lena was in a blazer and dress) and hours awake (none of them could have gotten more than two hours of sleep).

 

Everyone’s expression was different, but none looked positive. Kara laughed awkwardly, trying to brush off her initial response to their arrival. “Guys! Hey! How’ve you all-” She was interrupted by a massive hug initiated by Lena, who was followed by Winn, James, and then Maggie. While Kara appreciated the physical contact, her stab wound did not. She winced as pain flowed from her torso. All of them seemed to realize at once what they had accidentally done, and almost fell over each other trying to get away.

 

Winn spoke first. “Kara, Jesus, thank God you’re awake, all of us were going crazy waiting-”

 

“Hold on, ‘waiting’?” She looked between their faces. “How long was I out?”

 

Everyone exchanged an uncomfortable look. Lena broke the silence. “Around a day and a half.” James shot her a look. Lena might have missed it (or she just didn’t care), but Kara never missed anything. “Guys, I love you all very much, and I love that you’re all here for me, but I need to talk to James super quick. Alone, if you please.”

 

“...Ha. _Super_.”

 

“...Winn.”

 

“Yup, we’re going.”

 

“Thanks,” Kara waited until everyone was out of the room before turning to James. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. “Look, James, I know you don’t trust her, but you’ve gotta tone this whole anti-Lena rhetoric down. She’s proven time after time that we can believe her, that I can believe _in_ her, and the fact that you still don’t show any tiny sign of friendship towards her is sorta… well, for lack of a better word, kinda douchey.”

 

Whatever James was expecting her to say, it definitely wasn’t that. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before talking. “Kara, her mother tried to kill-”

 

“She’s not her mother.”

 

James pinched the bridge of his nose. “We don’t know that. Not yet.” He exhaled. “Kara, look. I recognize and appreciate that this conversation is one we probably do need to have, but can it wait?”

 

“I mean, not re-”

 

“You died, Kara.”

 

The hero froze. “Excuse me?”

 

“On the operating table, you died three times. Your heart stopped beating. It took a full-force sunlamp and 5,000 volts to get you back here with us, so please just let us talk to you like nothing's wrong, like you don't have four stab wounds and a scar that Anakin Skywalker would be jealous of. Look at everyone here and tell me you don’t think they need it.”

 

Kara looked at Lena through the glass. There were circles under her eyes, which were slightly red and puffy. Winn’s eyes were much more so, and he had obviously been crying recently. Maggie looked exhausted, as if she hadn’t slept in three days (which, Kara reflected, she probably hadn’t), and James looked broken. The hero stared at the bandages on her hands. She brought the rest of the group back inside (read: James brought them in at Kara’s request).

 

When she next spoke, the Kryptonian’s voice was quieter and more vulnerable than any of them had ever heard it. “I’m sorry. None of you deserved to be put through this. It was all my fault, anyway. I should have called for backup, but instead I thought I could take them on my own, and look where _that_ got me.” She looked back down at her hands, a dark chuckle escaping her. “Anyway, I’m sorry. You guys never have to worry about me, though. I can handle anything they throw at me as long as I have you there with me.” She looked up almost shyly and met each of their gazes.  

 

“...But there’s something you guys should know first.” Kara paused, swallowing. “Cadmus didn’t kidnap me. Not officially. I went to them.” Maggie sucked in a breath. James looked horrified. Winn looked on the verge of tears again. Lena’s face was unreadable. “But I need you to understand why.”

 

Leaning back in her bed, Kara breathed in and out deeply. She could feel a throbbing pain in her ribs and lower torso, but ignored it. She swallowed thickly. “Cadmus, they, uh… They broadcasted something on a level only I could hear, apparently, and it was you guys. Of all of you. And Alex, too, obviously, but she’s not here, so… Anyway. They played some sort of audio clip, I guess, I don’t know, but it was of all of you screaming and begging for help.” She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, but couldn’t lift a hand to wipe them. “They gave me a location, and I swear I must have broken the sound barrier to get there, but as soon as I landed I knew something was off. I mean, for one, we were in the middle of nowhere. The guards were all armed with kryptonite. They had Alex there, looking bruised and bloody as all hell, and I ran to her, obviously, but it, um… It wasn’t her. They had some kind of shapeshifter posing as her, and the next thing I know I’m being hit over the head with a baseball bat and forced into a van. When I woke up, I was hanging in the warehouse you guys found me in. I think they were actually planning to hang me, like, _properly_ after they were… done with me, but, uh, luckily that didn’t happen! So we’re good now. One hundred percent. Hundy-ten. Yup.”

 

The last part was virtually useless. Kara’s voice was breaking, and she was definitely crying, but trust Kara to put others’ feelings before her own. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

 

Maggie cleared her throat, her voice raspy. “Do you want to talk about something else for now? There’ll be plenty of time to talk about what happened, but I think it might be best if we just relaxed for a sec, y’know?”

 

Relief was clear in Kara’s voice. “Yes! Yes. Let’s-let’s do that. I love it,” She wiped her eyes, and turned her gaze to everyone in the room. “So, what happened on _Drag Race_ last night? Don’t lie to me, I know for a fact you all watched it.”

 

James and Winn shuffled uncomfortably, but nobody denied it. Lena launched into a detailed explanation, with Maggie chiming in frequently and Winn adding comments every so often. Time passed easily after that, and the presence of her friends almost made Kara forget what had happened.

 

Alex came back about a half hour into their visit, arms loaded with styrofoam containers of food, to loud cheers from everyone, but ended up herding the rest of the group out after Kara yawned, which seemed a little overboard, but who was she to argue?

 

Before her sister left, Kara spoke quietly. “Alex, wait. There’s, um… There’s something I have to tell you.” She spent the next few minutes retelling the story of how she got kidnapped in the first place.

 

When she finished, Alex was sitting very still and trying not to cry, which was working about as well as anyone could have expected. She let out a shaky breath before speaking. “...Kara, you’re my sister, and I love you very much, but if you _ever_ pull shit like that again, I’m locking you in one of the DEO cells. Why didn’t you just, like, text one of us?”

 

“...Oh. Yeah. That, um… that would have been a better idea. Wow. Okay. I guess I just panicked?? I don’t know, I just…” She exhaled sharply. “We all know I’ve been abandoned before, and whenever stuff like that happens I just-I can’t think straight. Actually, speaking of not being able to think straight, there’s something I need to tell you about Lena and I, but that’s really not the point,” Kara very pointedly ignored Alex’s eyebrow raise. She saw her sister open her mouth, presumably to argue, and cut her off before she could start. “Also, I want to talk to Lillian Luthor.”

 

The sound of a metal chair scooting backwards on tile wasn’t a pleasant one. The sudden noise and action startled Kara more than she cared to admit. Alex looked like the regretted the action as soon as it happened, but spoke nonetheless. “Kara, wh-what the fu- why?! Wh-why would you do that? Seriously, what are you _thinking_ -”

 

Kara shrugged helplessly. “Closure, maybe?? I don’t know!” It was clear from Alex’s reaction that that answer wasn’t enough. “Okay, look, I sorta want to show her that I’m still alive, because I don’t think she knows that yet, and-” She broke off.

 

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know what? Fine. We’ll go visit the lady who fucking _tortured_ you, Kara, and we’ll _taunt_ her. Because that’s a good idea.”

 

The Kryptonian smiled sheepishly.

 

“.....I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to, though.” Alex looked like she was having an internal crisis. “You know what? Fine. Let’s do it. We probably don’t have anything left to lose, right? Right.”

 

Kara cheered as best she could. The potstickers had helped her mood, and she was back on pain meds, so the huge slash on her face only felt like someone was gently pricking at her skin instead of fire ripping across it. She tried to get out of bed and immediately fell back in. “Maybe we could wait a bit, though? I think I need to heal a bit first.”

 

“Yeah, yeah! Of course. Definitely,” Alex sat back down, grabbing her forgotten soda can and sipping idly at it. “Oh! Remember how we saw the ad for the new Italian place? I happened to meet the owner at the grocery store the other day, and she gave me her business card. Check this out.” The agent dug a piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to Kara, who accepted it gratefully.

 

As Kara was turning the card over in her hands, she felt a sharp sting on one of her fingers, and recoiled immediately. As she stared at her finger, a thin red line of blood appeared. “ _Ow_. Where did that come from?”

 

“...Did you just get a paper cut?”

 

Kara looked up from where she was cradling her index finger. “Is that what that is?” Alex nodded, unsure of how to proceed, and tried to stifle a chuckle.

 

“Unfortunately, it is. We’ve all been there, hon.”

 

“Clearly, I have not been there.”

 

“Well, looks like there’s a first time for everything.” Kara grunted in assent. “Speaking of, what’s going on with you and Lena?”

 

“...I shouldn’t have brought that up, should I?”

 

“So have you two fucked yet, or-”

  
“ALEX!!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no beta we die like men. also,,, i know its been like 2 months but I CAN EXPLAIN!! also this chapter is just...... im sorry honestly it doesnt even make sense but i hope yall enjoy it

“Let me just-let me get this straight. You’re telling me that this dude, this _very dead_ dude lying on the ground here, this dude died of-what did you call it?” To say that Winn was enjoying this would be an understatement.

Alex groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “...Autoerotic asphyxiation,” She put her hands up. “I know, I know, but look-”

“So-so what you’re telling me is this guy died of having sex that was a little _too_ kinky?” He had never seen Alex look this embarrassed during work (though plenty of the times he had walked into her apartment unannounced topped this), and was seriously considering taking a picture of how red her face was, and probably would have if he didn’t value his life so much. Agent Alexandra Danvers, highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and top-quality marksman (markswoman?), was embarrassed talking about being choked too hard. What a nerd.

“YES!!” Her shout drew the attention of several other agents. She winced and lowered her voice. “Yes, okay?! I am,” She pointed to the screen where his picture was displayed. “This man, one of our government officials, I might add, was killed during, uh, _intercourse_ through autoerotic asphyxiation.”

Kara chose this moment to fly into the DEO, landing gracefully and appearing by Alex's side in an instant. “Did I just hear one of you say ‘autoerotic asphyxiation’? Do I even _want_ to know what you guys were talking about?” She stood next to Alex, a smirk on her face, arms on the table in front of her.

Alex huffed before pointing to the screen where the body was displayed. “Kara, this man is _dead_. Have some respect.” The sentence would have sounded very grim to anyone else, but Kara knew her sister was half-joking. The agent reflected on her alien sister. The scar across her face had faded from an angry red wound to muted pink scar tissue, but was still highly visible on her face. To Alex’s credit, the first time Kara had taken down an alien with the huge red line across her face, she looked badass as hell. While Alex had privately thought this, Winn chose to yell it to her over the comms line. The news did an excellent job of capturing Supergirl wince at the noise in her ear before grinning and winking at the cameras.

Kara schooled her face into something moderately serious. “Okay, so what does this mean? A high-ranking guy gets choked out during sex, and _we_ have to deal with it?” She frowned now. “Alex, what’s really going on here?”

Winn hopped up suddenly as the screen shifted to the profile of an angry-looking blue alien. “Oh, Kara, darling, I’m _so_ glad you asked,” He pressed a button on his keyboard and the profile expanded, showing statistics about the alien’s planet of origin, status, etc. “Y’see, this particular high-ranking guy was actually _this_ high-ranking assassin.”

Kara unfolded her arms from where she had crossed them and gaped. “Dude, _no way_. I’ve heard of these guys, their planet was, like, _notorious_ for shapeshifting.”

Winn grinned. “ _Yes_ way, my dear. Like you said, they’re notorious for it, but I think this one was just kinda chilling here. All of my sources say he was a pretty cool guy, and frequented that alien bar we like a lot, and nobody seemed to have anything against him. I don’t know who would have killed him, which means there’s a possibility it really _was_ an accident.”

Alex’s frown had been a constant for the conversation, and now it deepened. “But that doesn’t make sense. There had to have been _someone_ who had something against him, right? An alien from a rival species, or someone he stiffed in a deal once, there’s really nobody like that?” Winn shook his head no.

“Everyone I talked to didn’t mention anyone,” Winn said thoughtfully. “Could it have been Cadmus?”

Nobody missed how Kara tensed briefly at the mention of the organization, remembering the pain it caused her. Alex reached over and squeezed her hand, and Kara turned to her and smiled softly before nodding. Alex nodded back and returned focus to the conversation. “There’s a pretty good chance it was. Kind of weird that they’re operating without their leader, though. We _do_ still have Lillian Luthor locked up, right?” Winn nodded. She had been transferred to a local prison and was surrounded by guards at all times, courtesy of Maggie and the rest of the NCPD. “Okay, so-”

Something pinged on Winn’s tablet, causing him to look down at it. His eyebrows shot up into his head. “Whoa! Guys, hate to interrupt, but I think we might have just gotten a lead on our killer. I ran the fingerprints from around the guy’s neck-”

“You know his name was Larry Burke, right? He was the director of public relations in National City? None of this rings a bell?”

“....Right. Okay, well I ran the fingerprints from Mr. Burke’s neck, and it looks like our killer’s name is…” He tapped at his tablet for a few seconds. “...Bon Tyler!”

Kara shrugged and gave a thumbs up. “Cool. Does the NCPD have it, or should we go make an arrest?”

J’onn appeared seemingly out of nowhere, though he had been listening the whole time. “Don’t worry, Supergirl. Our friends in blue have got it from here.”

The Kryptonian gave a thumbs up. She was about to leave (sirens sounded in her ears, which was never a good sign) when Winn stopped her.

“Yo, wait, Kara! And Alex, you too!” The two stopped and looked at him. “I was thinking we could all get drinks tonight? I mean, tonight _is_ happy hour down at the alien bar. It’d probably be you guys, me, James, Lena, Maggie, and you too, J’onn, if you want. I think it’d be fun! A fun time after a…. _very_ stressful couple of weeks.”

Kara’s answer was immediate. “That sounds great! I’d love to!”

Alex shrugged. “Sure, Winn, I’m down. God knows I need something to take the edge off.”

J’onn smiled. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass, Agent Schott, but I do appreciate the offer.”

“Aww, okay, J’onn,” Winn turned to the Danvers sisters. “Well, I’ll see you both tonight- though, I guess I’ll keep working with you until then, Alex- for happy hour! I’ll let the others know.”

***** ***** *****

On a scale of one to ten in terms of fullness, the alien bar’s capacity was at eleven. For the first time in recent history, everyone seemed to be there that night. Kara held her drinks carefully as she tried to figure out where everyone had gone, but a loud bellow of laughter showed her quickly where her friends were currently sitting.

When she got there, Alex was in the middle of arm-wrestling a concentrating James. A single bead of sweat rolled down his face, and his arm slowly went down before slamming against the table. Alex leaned back, looking more smug than ever. Winn groaned and fished out a $20 bill, which he passed to a grinning Maggie. Lena was watching disbelievingly at the whole scene, but her face lit up when Kara returned (whether it was at seeing her girlfriend or her drink, nobody was sure).

Lena leant over and gave Kara a solid smooch when she was handed her drink, prompting a whoop from Winn. Kara’s face was already flushed, and the kiss (and reaction) didn’t help at all. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on, guys. Calm down,” Winn muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _just at me next time, why don’t you_ before she continued. “Anyway, if you weren’t already aware, Lena and I are together.” Unfortunately, more whoops followed this.

Alex rolled her eyes. “Guys, seriously. You weren’t like this when I introduced Maggie, were you?”

Unhelpfully, Winn chimed in. “Yeah, but we had also waited on drinking until you got there.” James tried to hide a laugh by coughing. It didn’t work. Winn took this as encouragement. “In fact, speaking of drinking, I think we should all do shots,” He raised his beer glass. “Who’s with me?” The group cheered, and everyone agreed later that this was the last thing they remembered from the night.

***** ***** *****

Kara woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. Groaning as she opened her eyes, she looked around the room and immediately wished she hadn’t. She was not only on the floor of her apartment, but she had obviously been there all night, and there was something sticky on her hands and face.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she noticed eggshells on the ground by where her head was. “Oh, Rao, _no._ ” She mumbled to herself. Whatever had happened the night before, it meant that she was currently lying in a puddle of raw egg and what smelled like some unholy combination of vodka and worcestershire sauce.

“Oh my god.” Kara touched her head gingerly and tried unsuccessfully to stand up. Her obvious hangover was made several times worse by her increased hearing and vision, which was something she really should have seen coming. After several more attempts, she was able to stand up, but it was an uphill battle.

Groggily, she looked around the room and saw another figure slumped on her couch. _That_ was new. Her vision was still blurry, but Kara could make out a pair of jeans and what looked like a black leather jacket.

Kara chose that moment to sneeze forcefully, which startled awake her guest(?), who fell off the couch almost immediately. The person landed on their back and tried (in vain) to get up before groaning. Kara realized with a start that the person in question was in fact her sister’s girlfriend, which brought up a few questions as to where Alex herself was.

“Wh- _Kara_? What the _hell_ , where-” Maggie’s voice was at least two octaves deeper than usual.

“Uh, my apartment? I think. My vision’s like… bad. I don’t know what happened, but that Aldebaaran rum really fucked with me.” Kara put her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes.

“Dude, wait, did you just swear?”

Kara cracked open one eyelid. “I do it all the time. Not my fault you have bad hearing.”

Whatever Maggie was about to say was cut off by a loud slam, which made both people wince. When Kara’s superhearing had recovered, she turned to the door and saw her sister standing with a box of donuts, last night’s clothes, and large sunglasses.

Alex smirked as best as she could. “Well, look what the cat dragged in. _God_ , you two look like shit,” She looked around the room, noticing the mess on the floor and the disarray of the living room. “What did you guys even _do_?"

Kara looked to Maggie. Maggie looked to Kara. They shrugged helplessly. “You tell me, babe.”

Alex, who had taken her sunglasses off by now, raised an eyebrow. Kara put up her hands. Alex shrugged, deciding they could go full-on _Hangover_ trilogy later on. “Alright, well, I got donuts,” She said, taking a bite of one before sitting down. “Yeah, so, turns out I woke up at Lena’s apartment,” Alex turned to Kara. “I don’t know what happened, but I _think_ we might have accidentally traded girlfriends,” Kara frowned. Alex grinned. “Anyway, nothing happened, but Lena was already up when I woke up this morning. She didn’t even say anything, just handed me an Advil and a glass of water.”

Kara’s frown deepened. “I’m going to call her,” She glanced at her counter. Her stomach won out. “....After a few donuts.”

***** ***** *****

Three hours, two boxes of donuts, and one rushed brunch later, the Superfriends were huddled around a too-small table at Noonan’s, all donning similar eye bags and sunglasses. Apparently, while Maggie had ended up at Kara’s and Alex at Lena’s, James and Winn had woken up in a nearby park, with Winn handcuffed to a bench in DEO-issue handcuffs. Nobody really even _wanted_ to know what had happened the night before.

  
Lena had a splitting headache, Alex had a black eye, Kara looked like she had gone three rounds with a Khund (which, honestly, was entirely possible given their knowledge of the night before) and still smelled like eggs and vodka, Maggie had more bags under her eyes than Cat Grant in Paris, Winn was wearing a pair of Lena’s designer sunglasses, and James was on the verge of passing out at the table. They were a mess, but they all agreed on one thing. 

It was going to make a pretty excellent story. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK BABY IVE BEEN WRITING SO MUCH RECENTLY and procrastinating just as much lmao bUT IM BACK!!!!!! also ive been working on a proposal au, which is called 'i think i wanna marry you' so feel free to also check that out yo but enjoy this chapter!! i had a lot of fun writing it and comments/suggestions and kudos are very much appreciated!! aight bye yall

When Kara woke up, the first thing she noticed was that her arms were tied.

 

The second thing she noticed was that she felt _very_ different.

 

The _third_ thing she noticed was the two men who were standing a few feet away from her, obviously engaged in conversation. One had a tattoo of a soaring sparrow on his face, and the other was missing a finger. _Cool. Looks like I’ve been kidnapped by the High Sparrow and Littlefinger._

 

They conversed for a few more minutes, not realizing that their ‘captive’ had woken up. Kara had had enough.

 

She cleared her throat loudly. “Guys, for kidnappers, you’re really not very attentive.” She cracked a grin. “My name’s Kara Danvers. What’s yours?”

 

Sparrow leaned down to her eye level. She was sitting on a chair, hands handcuffed behind her back. “Think that’s funny, huh? I’ll show you something funny,” He growled. Kara raised her eyebrows.

 

“Do te-” A fist slammed into her jaw before she could finish, and she figured it was best to move with it. She winced in pain before bringing her head back up to the Sparrow’s. Littlefinger was awkwardly standing behind him, clearly wondering what to do. “Well, that was rude,” She tutted. “Also, boys? In future, if you ever have someone in handcuffs, make sure to establish a safeword-” Sparrow punched her again.

 

“That was for mouthing off. Do it again, and it’ll be worse for you.” He cracked his knuckles in an attempt to be threatening.

 

Kara laughed and looked from one to another incredulously. “You’re kidding. You think _you_ , a run-of-the-mill henchman, can _actually_ threaten me?” She threw her head back and laughed. “God, you’re dumbasses. Do your research, idiots. I’ve been shot at, locked up by Cadmus, stabbed, sliced… You guys really don’t scare me. Like, at _all_.”  

 

Littlefinger grew more and more nervous by the second. “Dude, I have a really bad feeling about this. Let’s just call the Mask and get her to-”

 

“Man, I don’t care _what_ Black Mask says. I say we kill the bitch.” Sparrow looked at her hatefully before pulling out a handgun and hitting her across the face with it. “I think she _deserves_ it.”

 

The reporter looked up at her captors at this, blood dripping from a split lip and a cut on her forehead. Her left eye was swollen and had already started to bruise from where she had been unceremoniously pistol-whipped. As she lifted her head, a smile broke out slowly on her face.

 

She chuckled, her laughs growing louder as they continued. The two men exchanged a glance as the laughing devolved into wracking coughs. Kara spat out blood before turning back to the goons.  

 

When she spoke, her voice was incredibly calm. “You think I’m scared of death?” She glanced at the two men before letting out another bark of laughter. “I’ve died a million times,” She leaned in close. Her voice dropped. “And I’m fucking _great_ at it.”

 

The two men looked nervously at one another. Sparrow recovered first. “Yeah, right. Okay, Little Miss Sunshine, sure. You’ve died. I guess that makes us the hell you’ve gone to, huh?” He looked almost smug at that. Kara decided that she didn’t like it.

 

She laughed again, this time clear and melodic, before speaking again. Kara’s voice had an innocent tone to it, but it was barbed with something sinister and almost deadly. “Right, and how many times have _you_ died?” She raised an eyebrow, but a hint of red across the room caught her eye. Realization dawned on her.

 

 _Well, that explains where all this newfound confidence is coming from._ Kara was torn between rejoicing and cursing. Red Kryptonite was no laughing matter, but it looked like she had been exposed to a very low dosage so far. _Good. Just enough courage to keep them interested, but not enough to let me lose control._

 

_This’ll be interesting._

 

While Kara had been wrapped up in her thoughts, the two goons had relocated to the opposite side of the room, where they were conversing in lower tones that she couldn’t hear for some godforsak- _red lamps._

 

For the first time that night, she realized why she had been roughed up: the room had fucking red sun lamps in it. Whether it was on purpose or not, she was rendered almost useless without her powers.

 

 _Keyword ‘almost’_ , she thought. In her necklace, there was a tiny GPS that Alex had put in after Cadmus had kidnapped her (she let out an involuntary shudder at the memory), and if she could just _reach it_ , she would be able to at least alert the DEO to her whereabouts.

 

A plan popped into her head. It was terribly thought-out, required several variables to end up exactly where she needed them, and had almost no chance of working.

 

Naturally, she went with it immediately.

 

“Hey, assholes? Hi. Yes, I’m talking to you,” She smiled at the two men. “Ah! You in particular, Mr. Face Tat.” The man looked disbelievingly at her. Kara wasn’t deterred. “See, I’m not sure why you guys kidnapped me, or what you could possibly want with a reporter, but I’m trying to see things from your perspective.” She paused. “Keyword is _trying_. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to get my head far enough up my ass to see it clearly.”

 

Her words had the intended effect. Sparrow (slash Mr. Face Tat, apparently) stormed towards her, his face a mask of pure fury. When he got to her, he decked her so hard she (and the chair) clattered to the ground… _on top of Kara’s necklace._

 

Kara groaned and let out a muttered _fuck, dude_ as Littlefinger set her back upright. She hung her head for a second, an excuse to check her necklace’s color, and was pleased to see that it was now glowing a faint blue, signalling that a distress signal had been sent. A hint of a smile worked its way onto her face, but she made sure to wipe it off as soon as she looked back up at the two men.

 

Sparrow was still seething, while Littlefinger was more or less cowering behind him, and he started talking about everything he was going to do to her, how much he was going to enjoy her screams, etc., but she tuned him out after a few seconds. She was brought back to life when her necklace beeped once, softly.

 

That was the signal. Alex was on her way. _Time to stall,_ Kara thought. _But how? I could let them rough me up a little more, but that would_ suck _, and I’m not in the mood for a broken nose._ She hummed thoughtfully under her breath. _I mean, I could just let him talk. He seems to like the sound of his own voice. Hmm. That's something I can-_

 

Her necklace beeped twice. The DEO was here. _Well. This is going to be fun._

 

“-and, _God,_ when the Mask gets his hands on what’s left of you, he’ll-” Sparrow, who was still talking, was interrupted by roughly twenty of the DEO’s finest storming into the building and training their guns on him, shouting for him to put down his gun, which he had been brandishing for the duration of his monologue.

 

Alex was at the front of the assault, and she ran to Kara immediately and knelt in front of her, gently touching the cut on her forehead. “Kara, holy _shit,_ you’re bleeding-” She looked up. “How in the hell did they get _red_ _sun_ lamps?!” Alex was whisper-yelling now, as she moved to untie her sister, and Kara chuckled with how annoyed she sounded. “What? What’s so funny?”

 

Kara smiled. “Nothing, Al. But, uh… Some of the stuff I said to those two, _hoo_ boy. It’s for the record books.” That got Alex smiling, if barely. “Oh! And I’ve been exposed to a very low-level dose of Red Kryptonite!” She finished with a smile as Alex finished cutting her arms and legs free from the chair.

 

Alex froze. “How low?”

 

“I mean, low enough that I know something’s wrong and I’ve been acting a little differently, but not enough to go full-blown, throw-Cat-off-a-building, absolutely batshit crazy of control.”

 

Alex looked apprehensive and confused, but decided they could treat the issue later back at the DEO. “Uh. Okay,” She stood, and offered a hand to help up Kara, who took it gratefully. “How did you even get into this mess?”

 

“I honestly don’t know. I think Black Mask was, like, pissed at me or something. Not sure,” Kara trailed off as she saw Sparrow and Littlefinger cowering on their knees, hands behind their heads. “...Excuse me for one second.”

 

She strode over to her two would-be captors, grinning all the way. “Well, guys, this has been _so_ fun, but I’ll be taking my leave now. Toodles!” She waved at them before walking animatedly into the hallway where Alex had moved, sighing as she felt sunlight back on her. They walked back to the DEO van, Kara twiddling her thumbs while Alex spoke in quick, hushed tones to her second-in-command over the radio.

 

A few minutes later, they were driving back to the DEO, and when they got there, what awaited Kara was a very worried-looking Lena and a smug-looking Winn. She grinned when she made eye contact with Lena, and hissed not a second later as Alex jabbed the anti-RedK solution into her arm with a smile and a pat on the arm. 

 

Lena gasped as soon as she saw her, and ran forwards to greet her with a massive hug. “Please never do that again. God, I was worried _sick_ -” She noticed the blood on Kara’s face, though the cuts had mostly healed (Kara suspected that Cadmus had done something to slow her healing, and though it hadn’t totally worked, she still felt the effects of whatever they did). “What happened?? Are you okay? Did they-”

 

Kara thought it best to answer Lena’s questions before they multiplied. “Lee, babe, I’m okay.” She smiled, trying to ease the CEO’s worry. “Some of Black Mask’s goons tried to kidnap me for him, but they didn’t do a whole lot of research on me, apparently. All it took was a few lines from _Westworld_ to freak ‘em out, and a fantastic insult to anger them. I was able to contact the DEO in, like, record time, and it all ended up well.” Lena still looked disbelieving. Kara’s smile faltered just a little. “And…. I _may_ have gotten a _teeny_ tiny bit roughed up, but I’m okay! I’m okay. See?” She grabbed Lena’s hand and kissed it gently. “I’m all good.” Lena shook her head and pulled Kara in for a desperate kiss, which was happily returned.  

 

Alex cleared her throat and watched as they separated (though not happily, of course). “Okay, well, if you two lovebirds are done, I’m going to go, uh, _t_ _alk_ to those two dudes we picked up. Wanna join me?”

 

Kara shrugged, and turned to Lena, who had fire in her eyes, and ice in her voice. “You know, I think I’d like to have a chat with them myself. I’ll gladly join you, Agent Danvers, I've got a few questions to ask them.”

 

Kara sent a quick thank-you to Rao that she wasn’t going to be on the receiving end of that…. talk.  

  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it! the final chapter! the +1 in this 4+1! im proud of us. but more importantly, i'm proud of all of you guys for pulling through and fighting back even in the wake of the shit the cast (except david, katie, odette, and chyler) pulled yesterday. supercorp is real and endgame lads and i for one am going to be reflecting that even more than usual from now on in my fics. expect more shit soon ;) a huge thank you to everyone who stuck with me through terrible update schedules and weird plots! i love all of you! as always, kudos and comments are massively appreciated and i LOVE hearing what you guys think!
> 
> drop me a line on tumblr too! my url is apollosfakebitch and im always down to talk
> 
> peace out, lads! love you all

For once, Lena was having a relaxing day. Her conference call with potential investors had gone smoothly and exactly as she wanted, she had finished up a ton of paperwork in record time, Kara was having lunch with her in an hour, and the temperature was sitting staunchly at 72 degrees. It was bliss.

 

The CEO was sitting at her desk, eyes closed, sipping idly on a mocha latte while music played in the background. Her work for the day was mostly if not completely done, and she was taking the time to rest and relax.

 

Unfortunately, the universe decided, on this particular day, that it wasn’t going to give her a break.

 

The smooth jazz playing from a Spotify station on her phone stopped suddenly as an incoming call from Alex Danvers took up the screen. Frowning, she looked down at it before answering it. “Alex? What’s going on?  Is everything okay?” Worry and panic emptied a hole in her stomach.

 

Alex’s irritation and panic were present even through the phone. “Short answer? No. We have a bit of a situation, but it’s better I tell you in person. How soon can you be at the DEO?”

 

Lena mentally checked her schedule. “How’s ten minutes sound?”

 

“Yeah, that’s fine. Just, uh… fair warning, it’s not looking so good.”

 

The CEO grimaced. “Oh, _wonderful._ I’ll be there in a few.” Alex made a non-committal grunt and hung up. Lena leaned back in her chair before standing up and dusting herself off. _Well, shit. That’s not good. I’m sure Kara already knows, so no need to call her about this._ She told Jess that she was going out and wouldn’t be back for a few hours, and Jess made a note and gave her a thumbs up.

 

Satisfied, she left the building, heels _clacking_ as she walked down the crowded sidewalk, purse slung over one shoulder and designer sunglasses perched on her nose.

 

Lena made it to the DEO headquarters in record time, but couldn’t spot anyone she knew in the main hall. Luckily, that changed when she heard someone shout from a few feet away.

 

“Lena!” Whirling around at the sound of her name, she saw Winn and Alex standing next to a large datapad with an uncomfortable amount of red on it. _That’s not good._ Fear nested with the other negative emotions currently renting out an apartment in the pit of her stomach.

 

It grew when the two agents shared a very worried look before turning to her. Winn spoke first. Alex’s eyes, Lena noticed, were the tiniest bit red around the edges. _That’s_ really _not good._ “Okay, Lena? Don’t freak out here, but, uh… we might have a small problem.” Winn glanced at Alex. She turned away. He looked down and took a deep breath before facing her again. “So, uh. We have a sensor set up that monitors kryptonite levels, y’know? And it just sorta goes 24/7, um, and it’s pretty much _always_ inactive, considering Superman locked all of it up somewhere, but today…. well.” He trailed off, gesturing helplessly at the flashing red lights on the datapad. “It just… it started going _haywire._ And now we can’t find Kara, and-” Winn’s voice cracked and broke off, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. He closed his eyes and swallowed before looking back at Lena, who was getting increasingly more scared. “Listen, I just… the last time this happened, Kara was basically turned into a pincushion. We’re kind of-” His eyes widened as he abruptly stopped talking, staring at something behind Lena.

 

At the same time, Kara’s voice filtered in over the comms. Relief flooded Lena at the sound, but the words? Not so much.

 

Kara left no room for pleasantries. “Listen up, guys, I’m holding a part of a huge Kryptonite bomb.” Scattered gasps and whispers were heard all around the room, but Lena was silent, frozen with horror. “Uh, this dude left a bunch throughout the city in super densely populated areas, and if I don’t get them within the hour, everyone around them is going to die. He-” Her voice crackled out for a moment. “He said he wanted me to suffer like I made him suffer, which is super vague, but, like, _okay._ Um. There is a slightly unfortunate part, though, which, well. It’s a bomb, and I’m going to be carrying it. And this dude _really_ wants me dead. So…” A sniffling could be heard. “...Well, there’s a pretty good chance I might not be getting out of this one alive.” She cleared her throat. “Look, he targeted me via my comms, though, so you should be able to track him through that. Until then, looks like I got me a bomb to find.”

 

Standing next to Alex, Lena saw the blood rush out of her face at the thought. The agent stormed over to the comms station and pressed a button. “Kara, listen to me, you get your Kryptonian ass down here _right now_ or I _swear_ -”

 

“Alex, I’m sorry, and I love you, but I have to find them. I can’t let him kill all those innocent people.”

 

“Kara, _please_ -”

 

The comms line closed.

 

Shaking with rage, Alex turned around slowly, looking at each and every person in the room, and spoke. “Listen up, you fucks. My little sister isn’t going to die today so some twisted, sadistic _douchebag_ can exact some kind of revenge fantasy. We’re going to find him, and we’re going to kick his fucking _ass._ Am I clear?”

 

There’s nothing like a shared purpose (and the memory of a shared trauma providing a tense undercurrent) to bring people together. Every agent in the room either cheered something unintelligible or yelled “YES MA’AM!” back at her, and they set to work.

 

Winn was alternating between looking at his datapad and the big monitor, scrolling through endless lists of calls and communications - _oh,_ Lena thought. _It must be Kara’s call transcripts from the comms line. That’s helpful._ \- while Alex was talking in hushed tones with Vasquez a few feet away. Lena started typing at one of the computers, doing her best to be helpful.

 

Winn noticed her, doing a double take when he saw what she was doing. “Wait, what’s that?”

 

She didn’t even look up. “I’m building an algorithm to find the exact locations of the bombs based on kryptonite signatures around the area,” She smirked. “Might help our friend in blue if she knew where to look.”

 

Unfortunately, because she didn’t look up, Lena didn’t see the huge grin on Winn’s face when she mentioned programming. “That’s-holy shit, dude. That’s _radical._ Hell yeah, Lena. Uh, I’ll keep doing this so we can, like, tag team and figure out where she’s gotta go.”

 

Lena looked up, a small smile on her face. “Sounds good, Winn.” The two went back to work, typing silently while Alex readied a squad.

 

After a few minutes, Lena scanned the diagram on her computer screen and gasped loudly, drawing the attention of several nearby agents, including Alex and Winn. The two rushed over and looked intently at the screen.

“What’s going on, Lee?” Alex was too engrossed in finding the locations to notice the pet name had slipped out, but Lena wasn’t, and it threw her for a loop for a quick second.

 

“Wh-um,” She shook her head, as if trying physically to refocus. “Okay, so I was able to locate all the signatures, but it looks like they’re all in one area, and it’s-”

 

“-Right outside the DEO building.” Alex finished, eyes wide.

 

Lena leaned back in her seat. “Well, _shit._ ” Beside her, Winn and Alex nodded their assent. “I mean, whoever is doing this either _definitely_ knows about the DEO and the fact that Kara and at least someone else she loves works here, or they managed to pick the absolute least convenient spot in the whole damn city.”

 

“I’m leaning towards the former,” Winn glanced from Lena’s monitor to his own tablet, where something had begun beeping. He punched the air when he saw what was on the screen. “Looks like we found our guy, lads!” With the press of a button and the flick of his wrist, the mugshot of a blonde man was cast up onto the big screen in front of him. “Name’s Rick Malverne. Mean anything to you?”

 

Alex, who seemed to recognize the name, frowned for a few seconds before recognition lit up her face. “Oh!” A mask of dawning horror appeared on her face. “Oh no. Oh, that’s _bad_.”

 

“What? Why? What is it?” Lena didn’t like vagueness, and she _definitely_ didn’t like it now.

 

“Fuck. Uh, Kara and I both know Rick. He went to school with us way back in Midvale. We went to high school with him. Shit, if he’s targeting Kara _and_ the DEO, it means-”

 

“-he knows Kara’s secret.” Lena finished gravely. The words settled over them like a heavy, very uncomfortable blanket until Alex nodded and smacked the desk lightly.

 

She addressed the room once more. “Alright everybody, listen up real quick. This dude’s name is Rick Malverne. He knows Kara and Supergirl are one and the same, and he’s planning to target both her _and_ the DEO building. We’re working on getting his locat-” A shouted address from Lena interrupted her briefly. “....Well, we now have his location." She turned and addressed a group of people in tactical gear. "Alpha squad, wheels up in two.”

 

Alex turned to Winn and Lena before leaving. “We’re gonna get this dick.” Winn muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘how I’m tryna be’, but it was lost in the emotion of the scene. Alex pulled them all in for a group hug, which was significantly more comforting than Lena originally thought it would be. When they eventually parted, the agent nodded to herself before grabbing her gear and yelling to her squad to move out. Lena turned back to Winn as he hit the ‘call’ button on Kara’s comms.

 

When the hero picked up, there was a lot of background noise surrounding her, which meant she was probably flying. “Winn? Look, man, hate to be rude, but I’m a _little_ busy here-”

 

“Kara, our guy’s name is Rick Malverne, and he knows you’re Supergirl.”

 

A crash sounded through the comms. Lena winced, but the Kryptonian's voice filtered through. “I’m okay! I’m okay. Uh, but you’re sure it’s Rick Malverne? Like, for _sure_?” Winn gave an affirmation, and Kara let out a low whistle. “Shit. Okay. Yeah, that’s pretty bad. Do we know where he is?”

 

Lena piped up. “We do. Alex is on her way there with a strike team as we speak-”

 

She was interrupted by Alex’s voice crackling in. “Negative. We just checked the location, and it’s completely empty. Tech is all left behind, though, so chances are he figured we’d be coming and got out of there fast as possible.”

 

Winn groaned. “Son of a _bitch_. Okay.”

 

Kara, who had gone quiet, spoke up again. “Looks like we’re still on for Plan B. I take the bomb and bring it out so nobody else gets hurt.”

 

“Kara, _no_ , you ca-” Lena broke off suddenly, eyes widening. “Wait a second.” Her brow furrowed in concentration. She turned to Winn. “What if we could deactivate the bomb from here?” Winn looked confused, and opened his mouth to speak, but she continued, either not realizing or not caring. “Listen, the tech is all still there, so that’s where he was planning to detonate from. If he threatened to set off the bomb remotely from there, it should mean we can hack into whatever he was going to use to do it and turn it off.” She finished, looking expectantly at Winn.

 

Alex spoke up again. “Holy shit. That could probably work, now I think about it. It looks like there’s-” A brief shuffle of movement was heard over the comms. “-a laptop here. Normally, I’d be more against looking into someone’s personal shit, but desperate times.”

 

“Got it!” Winn, who had been frantically trying to locate the specific laptop used, shouted suddenly. He threw (figuratively, of course; equipment is expensive) the data from his tablet’s screen up onto the main monitor. It was showing several different scrolling lines of code, which he was studying like he had a final on it the next day. “Okay, so, it looks like we should be able to deactivate it remotely, but I can’t figure out how it’s-”

 

“-Done.” Lena finished typing with a _clack_ , and the lines of code flashed green before the monitor went dark. She raised an eyebrow when Winn turned to her, disbelieving. “It was a simple bomb deactivation, Agent Schott. You just need to find the right wires.”

 

The Girl of Steel spoke up again. “Lena, honey, I love you, and that was badass, but you're both nerds. But, like, I’m good, right? No more Kryptonite bomb threat?”

 

“I love you too, darling. And no, you’re fine.” Lena smiled to herself, unaware that Winn was still gaping at her.

 

A _thud_ could be heard as Kara touched down on the balcony of the main floor, winking at Lena as she did. “You know it, babe.” She gave her girlfriend a massive hug, the kind that lifted her up and spun her around. When Kara set her down, Lena pulled her in for a kiss.

 

Alex groaned as her team walked into the room, carrying a medium-sized black case. “Gross. Get a room, nerds,” She threw Winn a case, which he barely caught in time. “That’s the laptop we found in his apartment. Do we have any leads on his location?”

 

Winn, forever attached to his tablet, answered. “Not yet, but I’ll put out an APB. We should have him in police custody within a few hours.” He glanced up at everyone. “In the meantime, I think we could all use some rest. It’s been a stressful afternoon to say the least.”

 

Alex grinned and scoffed, crossing her arms. “Hey, I think it went the best it could have. Kara didn’t even get hurt this time, which is an accomplishment in itself.”

 

“HEY!”


End file.
